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Monday, October 31, 2016

Since my introduction to the world of guitarist Nicolas
Meier came to me last year with his collaboration with Pete Oxley on Chasing Tales, I always was fascinated
by the teamwork that they did with the classical and flamenco influences that
struck me of their virtuosity. Nicolas has been a busy man with The Jeff Beck
Group and Dwiki Dharmawan to name a few. This year he’s released his new album
entitled, Infinity on Steve Vai’s
label Favored Nations Entertainment.

The origins of the album came when he was on tour with Jeff
Beck ten years ago when wrote a composition entitled, Yemin which means “Pledge”. He wanted that Turkish vibe with a
dosage of Fusion into the style. And with help from Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and
Bassist Jimmy Haslip, and guests including Violinists Richard Jones, Sally Jo,
and Lizzie Ball, and Gregor Carle on Guitar, you can expect something special
is about to happen.

For Meier, to be on Steve Vai’s label, it’s for me like
winning a scholarship. And with six centerpieces on here, you can imagine
yourself being in the studio with Meier and his crew, work as a team. JB Top is dedicated to Billy Gibbons. It’s
done in the style of the early ZZ Top sound while Nicolas was on tour with them
in Texas and it has this Hard Rock approach thanks to Gregor Carle’s heavier
sound.

Rose on Water is
Lizzie Ball’s Bach influence in the style of the sections from Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major. With
these haunting beautiful melodies between Lizzie and Nicolas, you can imagine
the two of them performing this at Carnegie Hall to a stunned and well-approved
audience while Kismet takes you into
these Greek melodies from the Mediterranean Sea.

With great tightness between him and Richard Jones’ playing,
Vinnie’s drums in the midsection, sound almost like a clapping beat which is on
the snare drums and following the speeding train section of Nicolas intense
guitar run through the frets as if he’s Jackson Pollock painting like there’s
no tomorrow. The gentle stream through the lakes on Riverside, sees Meier at the narrow sections through the rhythms
and leading moments in the classical textures on the strings.

As for Legend, it’s
his nod to Jeff Beck. It shows his admiration and accomplishments that he’s
done while being on the road with him. And then there’s Tales. It starts and ends with a Flamenco-Folky Jazz atmosphere as
Meier delves into the dance sections on his guitars. He is walking us through
the various landscapes of the different paintings of an art museum as if they
were moving forward quickly from one area to another.

I can imagine the influences of Jimmy Page, Robby Kreiger
and Ottmar Liebert throughout the entire composition that he does to pay nod
to. I had an amazing time listening to this album whilst I was going for my
morning walks yesterday. It’s another accomplishment from the mind of Nicolas
Meier. And I hope to hear more from him to see what he will think of next on
another brainstorming ideas he will come up with.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

When Steve Hackett left Genesis in the summer of 1977 after
an amazing three-night performance they did at Earls Court Arena at the time
they were promoting their eighth album, Wind
and Wuthering he knew he wanted to move on and see what he will do next as
a solo artist. He always wanted to push forward with the release of his debut
album, Voyage of the Acolyte released
in 1975.

His next album in which was his third after the release of Please Don’t Touch was Spectral Mornings. It’s considered one
of his best albums that he released in the late ‘70s. The album was recorded in
the winter of discontent in the Netherlands in a studio called Phonogram
Studios. He and his band mates worked day and night recording the album and you
can imagine the intensity making this whilst not getting much sleep.

Even though the work was hard and difficult, Steve knew
something special had happened with Spectral
Mornings. Originally released on the Charisma label and reissued in a
2-CD/DVD release that features the new stereo mix done by Steven Wilson that gives it a clearer sound from the original mix, it was part of the 10-CD/4-DVD release of his years with the Charisma label from
1975 to 1983 entitled Premonitions released
last year, it shows not just his playing, but it was the way that he knew where
he wanted to go.

You can the sense of humor with the dosage of the Music Hall
with a bluesy harmonica roar done by Hackett himself along with vocals and
walking into the streets of Brazil with a bossa-nova and having a blast on his
comedic timing throughout The Ballad of
the Decomposing Man. Taking inspiration from the memoirs of Lord Dowding
who was the commander in chief of the battle of Britain, goes into deep dark
territories as Hackett channels his inner Crimson ideas as Nick Magnus uses the
synths for the war background noises and turned into a mini-operatic feel about
one day returning after the war is over one day with Tigermoth.

Not only it’s a progressive album, but it shows Steve’s
opening to the doors of world music. On The
Virgin and the Gypsy, it’s not only a beautiful track with folky melodies,
but walking through the Asian landscape and you can close your eyes and
visiting the country and witnessing historical landscapes thanks to his brother
using the Chinese bamboo models of the Flute. Steve would use the Koto and with
help from Nick of the Novotron bring an ambient atmosphere on The Red Flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere.

The ticking sounds from Hackett’s guitar and Nick’s
keyboards as John Shearer’s drums comes bursting through where Genesis could
have gone, is a walk through this clockwork-like mansion with a puzzling tunnel
by knowing where the right location is to be free from this maze on Clocks – The Angel of Mons. The three
bonus tracks on CD 1 contains single versions of Every Day which to me is Steve’s homage to Kansas, Clocks – The Angel of Mons, and The Caretaker was a humoristic joke from
the mind of Peter Hicks.

In the bonus track, he is complaining along with some nasty
coughs in the way, the loud noise and the mess that the band did while working
on the album. It’s funny and again Steve has an amazing sense of humor when it
comes to music. The 2-CD/DVD set contains a foreword note by Steve himself
along with an interview with him about the making of the album from the 20-page
booklet by Mark Powell. It contains photos of him, single releases, and in the
package, promo tours, and posters for his tour promoting his third album.

If you love the original 5-piece era of Genesis, then this
is something that needs to be in your shelf, big time of where the band could
have gone to before going ‘80s pop. Spectral
Mornings is for me in my opinion one of my favorite albums from Hackett
himself and it’s a crowning gem.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

From the moment you hear the mid-tempo running sound of the
drums, synths, and the vocals of “Nowhere
to run/the world will find you/six degrees of separation from you/I’m not
moving until the sun shines on me.” You get the feeling that someone is
watching you and you are on the run from the wolves of prey and hiding from
them until the sun is up to make sure that the coast is clear on the title
track. It’s quite interesting and a new direction from the realm of Canterbury’s
own Syd Arthur.

This is their fourth release on the Harvest Records label
and while it is a diverse album, they still carry the progressive touch
throughout their music. I’ve been a big champion of Syd Arthur’s music since
2012 when I read about them in an issue of Prog Magazine and bought their
second album, On and On. And the rest
is history. They have supported acts including Paul Weller of The Jam, Sean
Lennon’s band The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger, and Yes.

They have been very busy lately during those few years to be
the headlining act with such amazing bands/artists for those three including
performing at SXSW (South By Southwest) and Coachella. You can’t deny these
guys. There is absolutely no way in hell you can’t deny them. They are damn
good. When I listened to their new album entitled, Apricity, I was nearly in tears from the moment I put the CD on.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, it’s a diverse album and while
they want to keep the Progressive and Psychedelic touch, it has an early 1980s
vibe to their music and I absolutely love what I’m hearing. There’s also a
different line-up in the band. Fred Rother left the band as the Magill’s
brother, Josh takes over Fred’s duty on the drums. Syd Arthur for me, is not
just a band, it’s more like a family unit that keeps the wheels going for the
end of time.

Coal Mine starts
with a fade-in awakening between keyboards and epic guitars. Enter in the
acoustic/electric melodies and deep into the jazz-like rhythm with a dancing
groove along with the violin. It’s a futuristic kicker and with melodic guitar
lines/rhodes, you are the bird flying away into the sea and bringing some kind
of treasure and knowing that what the world has become, is not what you think.

Plane Crash in Kansas is
back into the mind of their second album. It feels as if it’s a continuation of
First Difference. With some ‘60s
organ, guitars, and incredible drum work by Josh as the rising beats get into
some touches like something straight out of the John Hughes films in the 1980s
from The Breakfast Club with No Peace. The afterlife can be an
emotional turn as it tugs your heart with another rising rhythm from the drums,
guitars, vocals, and synths as lyrical touches hit you inside to space and the
sacrifices we make.

“I’ll meet you on the
other side/said it’s gonna be alright/brother don’t you cry said it’s gonna be
right/I’ll meet you on the other side said it’s gonna be alright/there is a
trap door to my heart.” You can’t write amazing lyrics like that with a
journey into the afterlife of outer space for the Sun Rays. The ominous yet eerie ambient noise grows into an
alarming yet mourning tone as you head Into
Eternity.

Keyboards and Guitar handle the melodic warmth as your life
is looking forward as you are on the top of the mountain to see the sun in all
of it’s glory and knowing the next chapter is ready for you. The music nails it
down to know your future is ready for you looking out. Rebel Lands is another mid-tempo beat. Swarming guitar introduction
and drums set to the tempo of another dystopian atmosphere of a young man who’s
from a troubled time and witnessing what is happening right now in his country.

He wants to get away from it and start a new life by
travelling and focusing on not making this mistake and knowing it’s going to be
okay. Syd Arthur takes you into the militant drums, oceanic waltzes, and taking
you into the distant places thanks to the acoustical folk-like rhythm before
kicking into a driving beat for the Seraphim.
It’s very classical thanks to the string-like keyboards setting this aqua
adventure.

The thumping beats keep on growing and growing. Here on the
instrumental, Portal, the synths
reminisce at times of Devo’s late ‘70s/early ‘80s style of the Post-Rock and
Psych approach to take you on another journey to where you never seen before in
your lifetime while Evolution draws
into a heartbeat bass drum effect and echoing reverb effects of the vocals.
With eerie hopes for love and sorrow, it still grabs more and more for swirling
guitars to come flying in.

Dark, somber, art, and psych, Syd Arthur show there is no
sign of stopping and the sound is essential and emotional. This here is another
follow-up that needs some more recognition and deserves my stamp of approval
that they have come a long, long way. Get ready for another journey with the
band and hold on tight for Apricity.

Monday, October 24, 2016

This is Opeth’s 12th studio album released this
year entitled, Sorceress. It’s been
many years since Opeth released their 2003 album Damnation and it was a radical departure from their Death Metal
roots and moving forwards into the Progressive territory. Some people may not
be happy with the moving away from their early days and into that sound. And it’s
become a dividing line in the sand whether to accept their Death Metal or
Progressive Rock sound.

Now for me, I love both of them (Death Metal and Progressive
sounds). And Mikael Akerfeldt is moving forwards and he is not going back and
not everyone has to like it and everybody has an entitled to their opinion. He
is also a very busy man alongside with Opeth by working with Steven Wilson on
the project they did with Storm Corrosion and working with Steve Hackett on Genesis Revisited II. With the release
of their new album, it’s diverse and it flows very well.

It is folky, proggy, and metallic. It is all connected like
a giant smoothie. You have Will O The
Wisp which is a moving 3/4 time signature waltz in a beautiful yet dark
sounding in the style of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s of Jethro Tull’s Folk-Rock
era while Sorceress 2 features gentle
acoustic melodies with a prog-folk background featuring the mellotron. Mikael’s
vocals are double-tracked through a leslie speaker in the styles of Black
Sabbath’s Planet Caravan.

Chrysalis is heavy
rock at its finest. I love how the duel between Fredrik’s guitar nad Joakim’s
blaring organ followed by Mikael’s riffs are just like a match between who will
in the race in the styles of a Deep Purple groove of the MKII-era while Era is a fast driven styles of the New Wave
of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) with fast rumbling guitars and galloping drums
delving into the night sky.

Strange Brew features
solos between Mikael and Fredrik. It features an ominous opening with
double-tracking vocals followed by an insane midsection as Opeth go into
Interstellar Overdrive. Meaning Fusion meets Rock Progressivo Italiano (RPI)
before ending in crying battle of the guitars. Taking inspiration of Family’s
second album, Entertainment, The Seventh
Sojourn which sounds very much like an Ingmar Bergman film, features
middle-eastern rhythm and lead acoustic guitars.

And a string section also as you as a listener can imagine yourself
walking through the Isles of the Egyptian Deserts and seeing the pyramids
before ending into a Floyd-sque finale of the styles from The Narrow Way from the Ummagumma
album. The Wilde Flowers is an
homage to the archetype of the Canterbury scene of a group between Caravan and
the Soft Machine. But this track isn’t Canterbury related.

More of spirited and vital approach of a harder rock sound
turned into the finale twists of Radiohead’s OK Computer-era as the opening track gives Opeth an homage to Ennio
Morricone in the styles of the spaghetti western scores of the late ‘60s vibe
as if it’s a continuation of the final chapter of The Man with No Name who is
now gravely old, is returning for one last battle on Persephone.

I also enjoyed how on the title track there’s this fuzztone
sound probably either on the guitar and the organ. It’s this sonic harsh tone
from the fuzzing pedal box and not just with the heavy riffs that goes with it,
but the textures in the styles of Mike Ratledge as A Fleeting Glance features the harpsichord with whispering vocals
along with a structure of the early Floyd and Medieval-Psych rock for the first
few minutes.

Opeth know their influences very well. The closing track, Persephone (Slight Return) is a nod to
Jimi Hendrix but it shows that the sorceress has calmed down as the haunting
piano fades into the darkness. I enjoyed this album very much and while I’m not
a big Opeth fan, this is another crowning achievement for them and it’s not
just Mikael’s band, they work together as a team.

The Bad Elephant Music label has now been one of my
favorites this year. With not just The Fierce and the Dead, Trojan Horse, The
Rube Goldberg Machine, Matthew Parmenter, and Mike Kershaw to name a few. It’s
always looking through to see what the label would cook up something special in
their experiments of interesting releases. One of them has landed on my lap is
a five-piece symphonic progressive rock band from London called The Far Meadow.

They have released their second album this year entitled, Given the Impossible and with a
different line-up change it considers; Marguerita Aleandrou on Lead Vocals,
Paul Bringloe on Drums, Keith Buckman on Bass, Eliot Minn, and Denis Warren on
Guitar. I can hear influences between Magenta, Yes, Cardiacs, Moulettes,
MoeTar, U.K., and Frank Zappa.

The music is comprehensive, wacky, and vivid. For me,
Marguerita is very much like a new Captain of the ship as she takes the
listener on The Far Meadow’s ship to explore other worlds. Prove It Then opens the album with a gentle walking acoustic folky
melody. The lyrics are very Randy Newman-sque before resonating with the drums
and guitars before seguing into Hang On.

It makes you feel that you are embarking for lift-off with
melodic and weird rhythmic beats thanks to the odd time signatures they would
do as Marg and Eliot share a vocal in one of the sections of the compositions.
It has a Knifeworld direction. Eliot’s vocals comes to mind at times of Kavus
Torabi in that little moment. Then the Industry
knocks the door down with a hardcore punch.

It feels like The Far Meadow recorded this composition in
Pee-Wee’s Playhouse or on a flying ship with a Danny Elfman approach a-la Zappa
and Cardiacs with the Moulettes thrown into place. Keith’s Bass is the engine
and the engine sounds like going through a clockwork museum as Marg’s voice
resembles Christina Booth (Magenta) and Moorea Dickason (MoeTar). The Piano concertos
to Yes-like synths it’s one of those moments that you makes you want more.

I also love in the song Dinosaurs
where in the midsection of the piece Warren is honoring the styles of Robert
Fripp thanks to Eliot’s swirling synths and channeling the twists and turns of
the eras of King Crimson’s Red and THRAK while A Gentle Warrior is dealing the story about the Bombe machines of
the Wrens (WRNS) at Bletchley Park. It was a electromechanical device that was
ahead of its time, that was used during the First Battle of the Atlantic with
decoding Naval Enigma messages by helping with allied forces against U-boats.

The music itself tells the story about what was going on as
keyboards at times bring to mind a Pan Flute a-la Gheorghe Zamfir. The
15-minute epic, Himalaya Flashmob is
a conceptual piece about an adventurer who challenges herself to climb a peak
up in the mountains of the Himalayas. But the challenges she goes through are
difficult with a limited low on oxygen and deteriorating rapidly in the worst
conditions. But she’s not alone.

I love how there are Yes-like boundaries in there but the
mysterious midsection, in the ambient scenario, we have moving piano
improvisation from Eliot as Eric goes into survival mode on his guitar with a
Gilmour-sque vibe in the essence of Pink Floyd in their later years. The band
give Eliot a chance to go into some soft, warm, jazz improve of a ballad with a
tribute to the late great Keith Emerson as Buckman’s Bass is waiting for the
moon to rise on Letterboxing.

The Seamless Shirt is
the finale on the album. Not only it pays homage to Simon and Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair for a few minutes, but
the beats are driven and armed to go for one more drive to see where The Far
Meadow will had into next. Given the
Impossible might be worth you alley that you might want to take note to see
where they have come a long way and this is an album that not just took me by
surprise but it almost made me want to go again, again, and again.

All in all, an album that is worth checking out and highly a must listen to album if you love not just the wacky side to The Far Meadow's music, but a symphonic and driven beat.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

It’s always neat when a package from MoonJune Records is in
the mail for me. I know my ear is always ringing for something exciting. One of
those artists I’ve always championed is Dewa Budjana. With five albums now in
the can, he never disappoints me with his virtuosic guitar playing. This year,
he’s released his sixth album entitled, Zentuary.
Released on Steve Vai’s label, Founded Nations Entertainment and produced by Dewa himself along with his company Museum Gitarku and MoonJune Asia, it’s a perfect combination to be on Vai’s label.

Dewa brought some helping hands including Bassist/Chapman
Stick Tony Levin; Keyboardist, Pianist, and drummer Gary Husband, and Drummer/Pianist
Jack DeJohnette. But there’s more. It’s not just a 2-CD set release, he has
Danny Markovich (Marbin), Guthrie Govan (The Aristocrats, Steven Wilson), Risa
Saraswati, and the Czech Symphony Orchestra to name a few. Dewa is lending a
helping hand to show support and believe me, they got his back, big time.

The term, Zentuary
came from combining the words “Zen” and “Sanctuary”. It’s a lifelong journey
that Dewa has embarked on through his musical path. He’s come a long, long,
long way from where he is. It’s an emotional adventure between the happiness,
sadness, and rising up to the difficult challenges he’s come through. Listening
to this album, you can just see that he’s been there from day one and as I’ve
always say, there is no stop sign for Dewa Budjana.

I picked a few highlights on the album that I picked that
showed Dewa is not doing this for himself, but he wants to give the artists
creative freedom and do whatever they want throughout their improvisations. Rerengat Langit (Crack in the Sky) which
is Dewa’s take of Stick Men’s composition based on poems by Tony Levin, sees
Risa Saraswati going through spoken dialog in the styles of Jane Birkin.

The music itself it has a late ‘60s/early ‘70s touch with a
Serge Gainsbourg feel in the vibes of Histoire
De Melody Nelson. Uncle Jack gives DeJohnette, an intense acoustic piano
work that you could have jaws-dropped at the right moment while Dear Yulman shows Dewa paying tribute to
not just John McLaughlin, but paying tribute to the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

The melodies and sitar arrangements are realistic followed
by the synth-spacey atmospheres contacting home from the outer limits in the
styles of the Dance of the Maya. Danny
Markovitch does a guest appearance on one of the tracks which is Ujung Galuh. His curved soprano sax is
in full front as he takes the listener followed by Dewa, into a trip into the
islands and filled with love as the immense and deep evocative composition of Suniakala featuring the Czech Symphony
Orchestra and Guthrie Govan to the front, an awe-inspiring moment.

Guthrie is not showing off, he is taking you by the hand
through his fret improvisational solos and going through each of the several
doors he opens to the listener and finally seeing a giant light that is glowing
brightly before an acoustic finale done by Dewa himself. Manhattan Temple is a trip down back to the Big Apple featuring Tim
Garland’s sax journey through the streets of New York followed by the
fast-revolving moog synth by Gary Husband. And near the end of the last few
minutes of the composition, Budjana and Levin fade off into the nighttime sky
between guitar and upright bass near the end of the composition.

Zentuary is a
memorial, spiritual, and honorable release from Dewa Budjana. He’s never let me
down through his guitar playing. He is still going on and I hope he continues
to do more for the years and years to come. My top 30 albums of 2016 is really
going to have some competition this mid-December and he’s definitely going to be
on the list.

Monday, October 17, 2016

This is for me one of the most promising
multi-instrumentalist and vocalist where the combinations between Art Rock, Indie
Pop, and Alternative Rock are in one. Here name is Catherine Anne Davies,
simply known as The Anchoress. Her debut album entitled, Confessions of a Romance Novelist released back in January of this
year on the Kscope label, is one of my favorite albums this year. With help
from co-producer Paul Draper of Mansun, it delivers, it catches, and it
reaches, and touches you.

With receiving word of mouth from MOJO, Prog Magazine, The
Quietus, and NPR, followed by winning this year’s Limelight award for the
Progressive Music awards, she is definitely getting a lot of recognition and in
my opinion, she is talented, emotional, and touching. I knew right from the
beginning hearing some of the sample tracks including watching a music video
with her duet with Paul Draper on the ‘80s ominous synth-art rocking delivery
of You and Only You on (no
pun-intended) YouTube, I knew I had to buy this album.

And I did. It’s these stories that are song written and it’s
all in Catherine’s brain and she’s good at brainstorming through her lyrical
boundaries. The homage to the Funk-Rock groove styles of early Stevie Wonder
from the golden-era of the 1970s a-la Motown style with a team up between him
and Jeff Lynne to create a soulful pop ascending deal with the occupation on
not making it towards the big time with the Chip
On Your Shoulder.

The up-tempo beats on dealing with while being stabbed in
the back, revenge can come at you with a heavy price as a dish served cold thanks
to some amazing catchy melodies that Catherine does on What Goes Around and the psychedelic wonders of reminiscing of the
Beatles thrown in of the damage they caused towards of an abusive relationship
with Doesn’t Kill You. The Anchoress
digs deeper into risky and heavy subjects in her lyrics and she nails it.

On the Tim Burton-sque lullaby turned ‘60s punching
percussion rhythm, punching guitar rhythms, organ, clapping sections, and
vocalizations deals that once you get married, you find out that you are living
in one big gigantic lie that you’ve been fooled the entire time with One For Sorrow and leaving the loved one
who finds out is nothing but letting their loved ones down with intensity on P.S. Fuck You.

Again, Catherine digs, digs, and digs deeper into the roots
of these situations. She can hit those notes in her voice that is right in
front of your face including the last moment of life as to say farewell to your
only child who sang to you and knowing there’s no turning back of the struggle
of moving on and ominous chord progressions on the piano for Bury Me.

All in all, Confessions
of a Romance Novelist is one of the most powerful, emotional and
heartbreaking albums I’ve listened to. I can quite imagine this as a film score
that Catherine wrote along with Paul Draper to witness what is happening behind
the novelist eyes on what she sees. I can’t wait to hear and see what Catherine
Anne Davies will think of next.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

It’s one of those challenging albums that grows on you. It’s
up there with Captain Beefheart’s Trout
Mask Replica, Electric Light Orchestra’s Out of the Blue, Magma’s Mekanik
Destruktiw Kommadoh, and Jethro Tull’s controversial magnum opus, A Passion Play. Yes’ sixth controversial album
released both in the UK and in the States between 1973 and 1974, has divided
lines in the sand between fans whether they will appreciate it or not. It also
marked the beginning of the end of the Progressive Rock genre.

When this album was released during that time period, it was
savaged by some of the critics, but it went gold in the UK selling 5 million
copies that skyrocketed in the charts at number 1 and at number 6 in the
Billboard charts. But this was also the album that Rick Wakeman would later
leave in disgust during one show he would eat some curry in Manchester during
the promotion of the album and would later would release his classic live album
recorded at the Royal Festival Hall, Journey
to the Centre of the Earth.

But let’s get to Tales
From Topographic Oceans. For me, it took me a few listens to adore this
album. When I first heard this when I was in College, I didn’t like it. I
thought Yes had crashed their boat with these insane ideas of making these
songs 20 and 18-minutes long in four tracks. I thought they had run out of
steam. But then, I listened to it again and again. It’s one of those albums as
I’ve mentioned, that grows on you.

Sure it’s pretentious, it’s self-indulgence, it dinosaur
music, but I love each and every bit of this. This year, the 3-CD/Blu-Ray set
of the Definitive Edition shows that it is finally getting the recognition it
deserves thanks to Steven Wilson’s new stereo and 5.1 mixes of this album. This
was three years in the making for Wilson to do thanks to his amazing mixes he’s
done with Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, XTC, and Steve Hackett to name
a few.

It’s a big challenge for him to do this ambitious project to
clean it and make it clearer to make the instruments come in front. You have
the original flat transfers, the UK and US needle drop vinyl transfers, instrumental
mixes, single edits, studio run-through’s, and a rare live recording of a performance
in Zurich, Switzerland in 1974. Wilson himself has done another spectacular job
of giving Tales another chance.

Taking the inspirations of Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, thanks to a
conversation Jon Anderson and King Crimson’s Jamie Muir were having during Bill
Bruford’s wedding. The book tells the story of a spiritual journey with
different levels and divisions between the Hindu scriptures. The music tells
the story of going a magic carpet ride between these worlds that you’ve never
seen before thanks to the amazing artwork done by Roger Dean.

I love how the intensity throughout the section where it
becomes this weird-out improvisation between Chris Squire’s wah-wah Bass, Howe’s
guitar, and Wakeman going into a frenzy on the Moog before relaxing into the
atmospheric voyage on his Mellotron on The
Ancient Giants Under the Sun. With mixtures of classical between Sir Edward
Elgar as to prepare for the next adventure and stop-and-go moments, you can
close your eyes and the thunderous moments that hits like at you with voltage
coming at you out of the blue.

Alan White who took over Bill Bruford after his departure to
join up with King Crimson during the Close
to the Edge tour in 1972 on drums, is still killing it on the kit and he’s
not trying to be Bruford, but he knows where the band wants to go into next
during those moments in the compositions. It’s evidential on Ritual Nous Sommes Du Soleil.

Anderson’s scatting, followed by the speed-driving rhythm
between Squire, Howe, White and Wakeman, it’s spectacular of heading back to
our home planet. The voice and Howe’s melodic guitar, sends chills down my
spine before the avant-garde twist in the last 7-minutes of the piece which
shows White in full force on the percussion and drums.

He is not just all over the place, he can bang those
percussions like a cannon going off before the nightmarish Mellotrons and
chaotic Synths come into place. It is the “Holy Shit” moment right there! It’s
insane, unexpected, but mind-boggling at the same time. The vocals and
instruments are very clear. Gone now is the first two minute ambient
introduction of The Revealing Science of
God (Dance of Dawn) as Anderson sings “Dawn
of light lying between a silence of solo sources/chased amid fusions of wonder/In
moments hardly seen forgotten.”

The harmonizing vocalizations, and setting off for an
adventure setting for lift-off, it is a wonderful way to start it off with a
bang. The watery yet beautiful effects take you into the deeper dark caves for
a chance of searching for one self is where my arm-hair went up a notch on
dealing with the impressed mind for The
Remembering High the Memory. This was an amazing reissue that the Pangyeric
label has done along with the other Yes albums (Close to the Edge, Fragile, The Yes Album, and Relayer) have done.

For me, it’s a perfect gift for Hanukkah, Christmas, or for
your birthday. The set contains the mini-LP formats including the original LP
gatefold sleeve which includes the lyrics and story of the album along with the
band performing the promotion of this album. A 20-page booklet features liner
notes done by Sid Smith, notes about the audio sources of the album and the set
up information of the Blu-Ray disc.

It contains pictures of the band, tickets, rough draft
sketches by Dean of the stage sets for Topographic
Oceans, posters, a Hot Air balloon to each venue of the ’74 American tour, and
New York area shows between Nassau Coliseum and Madison Square garden of a
full-page advertisement, and international LPs. I have enjoyed what Wilson has
done with this album.

And I’m very pleased with what the New Stereo Mixes has
accomplished to as I’ve mentioned get the recognition it deserves with some
clarity and cleaning up from the tapes. And as Jon Anderson says, “And I do think very well, that the song
might take you silently that move fast/they tell me/there’s some rainbow
alternate tune.”

Saturday, October 15, 2016

When it comes to tribute bands, sometimes they do right and
sometimes they do wrong in honor of the legacy of artists/bands to cover their
glory days. And some of them do right and avoiding the quote-on-quote term, “tribute
bands.” The ones I enjoyed includes; The Musical Box, The Australian Pink Floyd
Show, Zappa Plays Zappa, and now adding to the list is Security Project.

I’ve been an admirer of the Peter Gabriel-era of Genesis and
his departure on a successful solo career with the first four albums and the
live album, Plays Live. Peter, now
inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame both with Genesis and as a solo
artist, there is no stop sign for him. When listening to Security Project’s
music which covers that time period including other gems, it’s honoring and
staying true to the vision of Gabriel’s music from his earlier solo work including other related gems alongside the first five solo albums.

It wasn’t until I received a package in the mail by Glass
Onyon of Live 2. And when I opened up
the package,I knew something magical
was in this live recording when I put the CD on my old portable CD player. And
believe me, I was spellbound and hypnotize of Live 2.

It features some of the members of King Crimson, Shriekback,
and original band members who worked with Gabriel to bring the early solo
career into the spotlight. In this live recording, it considers Jerry Marotta
(First four Peter Gabriel albums) on Drums, Percussion, and Vocals, Trey Gunn
(King Crimson) on Touch Guitar and Vocals, Brian Cummins (Carpet Crawlers) on
Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar, David Jameson on Keyboards and Eigenharp, and
Michael Cozzi (Shriekback) on Guitar and Vocals.

Cummins’ vocals shines in his following in the footsteps of
Gabriel’s arrangements. It shows power and emotions which is evidential on the
acoustical letter to the styles of poet Anne Sexton that gives shivers on his
take with his acoustic guitar on Mercy
Street. Jameson’s keyboards help through the emotions and terror with a
sliding effect and moogy terrors between Wallflower
and Moribund the Burgermeister.
Which are amazing compositions that I wish Peter would bring Moribund back to his performances.

But here, Security Project deliver it and you can imagine
the audiences being in awe and in tears of these amazing arrangements to honor
Gabriel’s solo work. The lifting music brings up to the cloudless skies of
their take of White Shadow. The heavy
guitars and I can imagine listening on here the crowd is mesmerized not just
the guitar improvisations, but nailing each bit of the composition bit by bit.

They also bring back two of the Genesis songs from his last
album with the group of the 1974 concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Including the title-track and the
floating adventures into bizarre world of the spiritual adventures of the
inner-self with Fly on a Windshield. It’s
not just his solo work, but his work with Genesis still carries a mighty punch
and Cummins delivers it right followed by the background vocals and showing the
audience support to sing along.

This was for me one of the best live albums I’ve listened to
from Security Project. I’ve listened to this ten times now. They are still on
tour with Happy Rhodes taking over vocal duties and they are touring
from October 21st to November 4th. So please go and see this band. I just hope one day they come to Texas. And I would love to have the chance to see them one day. If you love The
Musical Box, then I highly recommend exploring the wonders of Security Project and their second live album, Live 2.

Friday, October 14, 2016

It’s another continuation of digging through the label of
what is now one of my favorite labels; RareNoise Records. This time, it’s a
trio from Norway entitled, InterStatic. Launched by Naked Truth’s Organist Roy
Powell, it considers Jacob Young on Electric Guitar, and Jarle Vespestad on
Drums. They have this love for music between Jazz, Blues, Avant-Rock, and
Psychedelic Music and following in the steps of Zappa, Miles Davis, and Tony
Williams’ Lifetime.

Originally known as Young, Powell, Vespestad, they have two
albums in the can. And they released their third album in 2014 entitled Arise. When I put the CD on last on my
old portable CD player, I was completely in awe from what I listening to. Not
just they are so damn good, but the way they communicate between each other. I’m
very new to the band’s music, here they delivered sonic surroundings, energetic
mastery, and unexpected moments.

Those five enduring moments are some of the highlights
throughout Arise. You have this
amazing adventure of Caerbannog which
is a reference to the 1975 comedy classic of Monty Python and the Holy Grail where it’s named after a cave
protected by the killer rabbit. Mind you, not just the Python’s have a great
sense of humor, so does InterStatic. With a swirling synthesized moog
improvisation and a kicking drum section, Jacob’s train chugging guitars is a
workout done in the mind of Hedvig Mollestad.

Frank’ll Fix It is
Powel’s dedication to the late great tribute of the Grand Wazoo himself, Frank
Zappa. I love how Jacob is going through the styles and virtuosity sections of
Zappa’s mastermind playing. It’s a staggering tribute to not just his music,
but knowing his legacy is growing strong and seeing where his influences will
keep going for many years to come. But the track itself is in an homage to the
styles of the Apostrophe (‘) album.

The opening track, Douzy
Mugwump Blues makes you feel you are in the ghost-town of the Louisiana
swamps and you could almost feel a pin drop by heading towards of watching the
full moon while Alexa sees Powell delving
deeper into the woods as he and Jacob deliver spooky rhythmic sections and
melodies between each other with some wah-wah effects a-la Hansson and Karlsson
style!

Jacob is another guitarist I’ve been getting a kick out of.
It’s not because of his playing but the way he comes center stage between Roy
and Jarle. He takes the influences of Classical and Jazz melodies are in full
swing by taking turns between the three of them on Alpha Dog. InterStatic do in the styles of musical chairs as Jarle
takes over the stage with his drumming. He plays an insane style of a swinging rhythm.
He’s like a conductor on the kit as he lets them know when it’s time to take
turns. But they can play well and give you a big round of applause.

Arise is a fierce,
strengthening, and an immense album that InterStatic release. I knew right
there that this is a band I need to check out later on. And RareNoise have
never, ever disappointed me with their releases. They are up there along with
MoonJune, Esoteric, and Cuneiform Records. So if you love Jazz Rock, Psych,
Blues, and a dosage of Progressive music, then check out InterStatic’s Arise.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Whenever you read my blog, you can sometimes know of me
mentioning one of my favorite shows on the House of Prog website, Prog Rock
Deep Cuts with Ian Beabout. One of those bands that I was introduced thanks to
Beabout’s show is Half Past Four. This is a band that have never let me down.
With two albums in the can, this year, they have released their third album in
a mini or E.P. format entitled, Land of the
Blind.

The Toronto quintet have scored another home run
for me in my opinion. Not just that they are good, but they brought even more things onto
the table with four highlights I've picked out through listening to the entire album. You have the opener, Mathematics.
With a swimming/floating rhythm section into watery atmosphere with Annie
Haslam meets Caravan’s In The Land of
Grey and Pink-era in a flying teapot of a submarine and journey into the
oceans of math for the first minute and forty-three seconds.

It suddenly changes into heavy riffs by Constantin’s guitar
by blaring out the magical patterns a-la 90125
style as Igor’s Organ and Kyree’s vocals give the driving power and getting
the juice up and going before delving down into the ocean for a lukewarm
finale. Then, there’s Mood Elevator. Featuring
dooming piano intro, alarming guitars and drums coming alive.

It tells the story of someone inside of a maniac person
living in his own elevator as if it’s his own mental institute of an abandoned
building and you being inside his mind of what he’s going through and done in
the styles of Frank Zappa’s Over-Nite
Sensation-era. I love their take of Max Webster’s Toronto Tontos.

Wacky and staying true to the original, it’s Half Past Four
going in the styles of Zappa, Mr. Bungle, Cardiacs, and Spike Jones with some
insane pastoral piano and thumping punches of the rhythm while Kyree brings her
characterizations as a Pirate as she tells the story of the One Eyed Man as she transforms herself
into Mike Patton. You never know what to those unexpected moments as the sounds
with insane locations as if they did a guest appearance on either Pee-Wee’s Playhouse or The Weird Al Show.

I have listened to this twice now. And Half Past Four’s
music is like something out of this world that you can as I’ve mentioned expecting the unexpected. It’s music that could have been used during the B&W-era of
the Looney Tunes-era and give it a real kick in the gut with some insane
surroundings. So my response to Land of
the Blind? Worth.Checking.Out.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Whenever something Esoteric Recordings reissues, I would
always check it out. Whether it’s Julian’s Treatment, Procol Harum, The Move,
Barclay James Harvest, or Cressida, they always release some very interesting
reissues that would peak my interest. I’ve always championed them since 2008.
Next year will be 10 years since the launch of the label and I always would
like to see where the road will lead them into next. One of the reissues that
has suddenly landed on my lap is Three Man Army’s debut album, A Third of a Lifetime.

Originally released on the Pegasus label in 1971, it started
out as a project between the Gurvitz brothers (Adrian and Paul) who started the
band out of the ashes of the late ‘60s band, Gun. While there were various
people involved with the debut including the late great Buddy Miles who was a
part of the Band of Gypsys with Jimi Hendrix and the Buddy Miles Express which
Adrian was a part of.

Not only he played drums, but he played organ also. The
production was done by Lou Reizner who worked with Eyes of Blue and the
Orchestral version of the Who’s Rock Opera Tommy, brought a heavier,
progressive, and symphonic side to Three Man Army. When I was listening to this
album, I was completely blown away right from the start. I can hear comparisons
of Cream, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top’s pre-Deguello,
Free, and The Moody Blues thrown into the mix.

Not only Buddy was on the album, but Spooky Tooth’s drummer
Mike Kellie helped on the album. There’s the classical-guitar and pastoral side
to Three Man Army which is exampled on the title track as Adrian brings an epic
atmosphere of walking towards the sunset as the end credits of a spaghetti
western comes to a closing curtain. Three
Man Army is a cross between the Rubber
Soul-era of The Beatles and Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies sessions while the proto hard-rock opener in
the styles of Cream with maximum volume of Butter
Queen, could have been a hit single and get some radio airplay.

The Funky Blues Rock featuring Adrian’s wah-wah pedal and
Buddy’s smoothing organ sound and Paul’s Bass are showing a team working well
together with the waves crashing at the right moment on the instrumental Midnight. The mellotron comes in for a
gentle yet heart warmth end in the styles between Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and
Seals and Crofts of Together. The two
bonus tracks are A & B-sides of single releases.

There’s another throttling rapid machine gun fire between
Gurvitz and Kellie’s playing as Adrian is not just going hard rock, but doing a
little switch of the George Harrison sound at times on What’s Your Name? Travellin’ is done in the styles of Jack Bruce’s
songwriting as if he could have written this song for Thin Lizzy. It has the
essence of something straight out of an Ennio Morricone arrangement as the Man
with No Name returns for one last game.

The 15-page booklet contains liner notes by Malcolm Dome
about the history of the band, an interview with Paul and Adrian Gurvitz. When
the album was released, it didn’t get the recognition it deserved. And after
releasing two more albums (Three Man Army
Two and Mahesha), the band called
it a day. Then the Gurvitz brothers teamed up with their hero, Ginger Baker and
would form the Baker Gurvitz Army and released three albums from 1974 to 1976.

But put that aside, and dig deep into Three Man Army’s A Third of a Lifetime reissued by Esoteric and put this album and
crank it up. You can understand it was so ahead of it’s time along with Adrian
and Paul because they deserve the recognition.

Friday, October 7, 2016

The music of Indonesia is now been one of my favorite
genres in the world of Jazz and Progressive genre. Not only that the MoonJune
label has been a favorite of mine since 2011 of hearing some amazing music, but
hearing the music from the bands and artists of opening up the door to World
Music. One of the artists who has a powerful improvisation and staggering proportions of virtuoso is guitarist Andre Dinuth. He is one of the most
mind-blowing guitar players I’ve listened to.

He’s worked both in concert and in the recording studio
along with being the top 6 guitarists including Tohpati and Dewa Budjana. Along
his work both as a session musician and in the studio, he’s also fronted the
Andre Dinuth Group. Alongside Andre on Guitar, it consists of Adhitya Pratama
on Bass, Yandi Andaputra on Drums, and Marthin Siahaan on Keyboards. They have
performed in several shows around Indonesia including the Java Jazz Festival
and the Freedom Jazz Fest.

He’s released his second album entitled, Here With You which is release this year
and it’s a follow-up to sole self-titled debut album released last year. I was
so blown away from the moment I put the CD on. Andre has this cross-combination
between Steve Vai, Alex Lifeson, John McLaughlin, and Frank Zappa. You never
know when he will stop because there isn’t a sign for him to stop. He’s keeping
the machine rolling in full speed.

The opening intro of Sahara
starts off with a galloping introduction of the percussions between the
drums and tabla followed by dueling melodies between DInuth and Mohamad Saat
Syah’s suling flutes as Lesama’s organ adds the action of the spice including a
mellowing piano section. On Sophie’s Song, Eugen Bounty’s clarinet brings a joyous warmth of relaxation.

Featuring a folky-fingerpicking-classical improvisation done
by Andre himself on the acoustic guitar, you can hear bits of vocalizations
during the melodies that he does and it is a touching composition that you can
you can hold your heart on to. Farm-O-Country
is a killer composition. Here, it shows that Andre has an amazing sense of
humor in the wackiest style!

It’s this cross between Blue Oyster Cult, ELP’s Benny The Bouncer, and very much like an
extended version of The Ren and Stimpy
Show theme, is the kicker. There is a ragtime piano in the honky-tonk sound
a-la Scott Joplin style and since I’ve mentioned wacky, when I say wacky, I mean
for them going into a Rockabilly, Country music swing and very much…well almost
giving Keith Urban, a gigantic middle finger.

Rote Island starts
with the sounds of children laughing before going into a dancing rhythm with a
clapping section. It has a Steve Howe-sque intro as it transforms into a joyous
electric celebration with powerful riffs while Syah’s flute brings a somber
walkthrough into a beautiful forest over the Solitude. One of the things I love about Dinuth is that he gives
the members free-rein (creative control) on whatever they want to do come in
front.

Barry Likumahuwa’s funky chicken bass lines come in swinging
on Wy Knot. It’s this
soul-blues-funk-fusion rock territory with increasing sections between Andre
and Ricad’s tenor sax with a blaring tone. It shows that they were not having
just a blast, but having a great time. And that’s what I like about
bands/artists, you want to have a great time and focus on that and not deal
with the stress.

Barry’s bass reminded me at times of Primus’ Les Claypool
and Paul Jackson from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters.
It’s a powerful and in your face composition that you want to play until the
sun comes up. This is now my fifth time listening Here With You. And again, I was so blown away by Andre Dinuth’s
improvisation and I think he’s going to hit the big time internationally one
day and hit not just the big time, but to see where he will go next.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

It’s been a few months since I’ve done a review from the label
of RareNoise Records. I know, I’ve been a very busy man when it comes to
listening and writing. One of the albums that has suddenly landed on my lap is
a trio called Chat Noir. Now, mind you I’m very new to the band’s music, With five abums in the can from different labels including one from
RareNoise also. This year, they have released their sixth album entitled Nine Thoughts For One Word.

They moved away from the Jazz sound and into Electronic/Experimental
yet Atmospheric noises that just took me by eye-brows lit up with momentum and
surprise. J. Peter Schwalm, whose best known for his work with Brian Eno and
working together along with a film score of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Fear X released in 2003, replaces
drummer Guiliano Ferrari.

What Chat Noir and Schwalm do is they bring a disturbing
vision of the future. It feels as if the trio have collaborated together and
worked on a film done in the styles of Refn, Alejandro Jordorowsky, David Lynch,
Luis Bunuel, Ridley Scott, and Fritz Lang. Done in a silent-movie homage set in
a black-and-white surreal dystopian film in 2046 as the music gives you a
nightmarish and ominous tone.

I almost closed my eyes because some albums that I’ve
mentioned as I would always say, “The movie inside your head.” Well, this one
is definitely like a surreal/avant-garde/futuristic film that will confuse,
guess, surprise, and blow you away for a midnight showing on Fridays and
Saturdays if you are tired of seeing the same old Superhero movies, the music
itself will give it a gigantic message of it.

Listening to this entire album, I always have this
fascination of the styles of music between Lard Free, Neo-Classical, the
Krautrock scene (NEU!, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Faust’s The Faust Tapes), David Bowie’s Low-era, bits of electronic Jazz, and of
course Eno thrown into the mix. It echoes throughout the entire structure, but
it is one of the scariest albums I’ve listened to.

Nine Thoughts for One
Word is not an easy album to listen to, however this is I think in my
opinion, the perfect choice of music for Halloween. I hope to see Chat Noir do
more of this type of music for years to come. Eerie and Haunting momentum that
will keep you guessing ‘til the very end. This is going to be one of my
favorite albums of 2016 and RareNoise Records have scored another home run as
Rutger Hauer’s character Roy Batty from Blade
Runner says, “I’ve seen things you
people wouldn’t believe.”

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Los Angeles has been home for some of the progressive bands
including Spock’s Beard, Tool, Carmen, and Intronaut. One of the up-and-coming
bands coming from L.A. is a trio that formed back in 2013 with styles of Jazz
Rock, Fusion, and Progressive rolled into a gigantic sleeve named King Llama.
They consider Luis Briones on Drums and Percussion, Ryan Tanner Bailey on
Guitar, and Nico Staub on Bass, Baritone Guitar, and Percussion.

The inspirations from what I’ve heard in King Llama’s music
are a cross between as if Frank Zappa was making hot-and-spicy BBQ sandwiches
with a gigantic dosage of Tabasco sauce and bands such as Rush, The Mahavishnu
Orchestra and King Crimson were having lunch at the Grand Wazoo’s house and
they both recorded sessions and never saw the light of the day. Return to Ox is the name of their debut
album and it almost feels like a strange episode or something out of the short
stories written between the late ‘50s/early ‘60s.

Their debut album was recorded last year at EastWest Studios
and it feels to me that you are in the studio watching this amazing trio duking
it out through their instruments and giving some mind-blowing improvisation
throughout the compositions displaying through the sheer momentum. Shuffling
rhythms (with a bit of Ska) followed by the funky bass lines as fuzz-tone keyboards
comes into play with Just The Tip.

There’s a midsection with energized and exhilaration beats
and not to mention some wah-wah guitar improve and mesmerizing drum solo’s. Call Me Elmo is King Llama honoring the
style of Rush’s La Villa Strangiato as
the voyages transforms from mellow, emotive structures and into fiery eruptive
power while Hershey Highway is Nico
Staub coming center stage.

Here Nico is going through his bass lines of Les Claypool
meets Stanley Clarke as Bailey’s guitar goes forwards Sly and the Family Stone
and King Crimson. Mighty Ox sees more
of Nico heading into the streets of Geddy Lee. It’s Llama honoring at times
Rush’s Moving Pictures-era in a
Fusion Rock momentum. With reverb spacey effects and ending in a race-driven
finish line at the last minute of the composition.

Return to Ox is an
okay album, not good, but okay. However it is likely the thrilling ride that
after that roller-coaster ride you went on, you want to go back for more and
more. The trio have taken me by surprise and I hope they will continue to carry
that sound in the years and futures to come.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Stick Men’s music have always peaked my interest. Even
though I’m not crazy about their music at times, but I do appreciate what they
are doing in carrying the styles of what they will do next with challenging
compositions and experience between the trio of Markus Reuter’s Touch Guitars
and King Crimson members Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto. And for me, they do a
wonderful job to keep the fans supportive and honoring the Progressive and
Experimental music going like a Bullet train going 500 miles per hour.

This year, they have released their forthcoming album
entitled, Prog Noir. Stick Men have
spent years composing the album and what they would do is get some ideas
according to Reutuer, is either as an album or playing them on the road. And
it’s out whilst they’re on tour a lot of the time. I’ve heard some of the
samples of the album on Sid Smith’s Podcasts from the Yellow Room which has
been one of my favorite podcasts since I was in College.

It's been my go-to Podcasts. And whenever I
would listen to his Podcasts I know something special that would get my notice and put on my wish list.
And Stick Men’s music has grabbed my ears for an amazing yet mind-boggling
adventure. The opening title-track sees both Levin and Reuter bring thunderous
improvisations of a booming introduction on the Chapman and Touch Guitar lines.

With similarities of David Bowie’s Outside-era in the styles of Hallo
Spaceboy, I’m Deranged, and A Small
Plot of Land, the music makes you feel as if you are watching
mystery/thriller/horror of a serial killer on the loose and then driving into
the darkness not knowing when the killer would attack next and it won’t be
pleasant and unexpected. Mantra sees
Stick Men channeling their Canterbury influences between Egg and early Caravan
as one of their guitars sound like the fuzz-tone organs while Plutonium features spoken dialogue on
the questions of a planet gone wrong.

Here they checklist the styles of Carl Orff’s O Fortuna, Yes’ Fragile-era, and Tchaikovsky. It is unexpected and jaw-dropping and
they are running at the right direction like being in the race to see who will
in the finish line with some stop-and-go moments floating in. A Rose in the Sand/Requiem flows
melancholically. Both Tony and Markus’s melodies sets some emotional tones
throughout the composition as it changes gears.

You can imagine the sun fading away as evening has come to
past as the drumrolls in the piece are to say farewell. The trio channel their
own Swan-Song styles of Franz Schubert’s Ave
Maria. The first 40 seconds of Leonardo,
has a mysterious introduction between the Stick and Touch instruments as it
changes into this metallic roaring rhythm in the styles of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

And all of a sudden, listening to that, I can imagine both
Levin and Reuter dueling it out in the boxing ring with the stick instruments
and still having the Midas touch of King Crimson and ending in a deep dark
place near the closing section. With Trey’s
Confession, it’s for me, in my opinion, an homage to King Crimson member,
Trey Gunn. There are bits of the THRAK
sessions that comes to mind. And believe me, it works well with the tribute and
homage to Gunn’s craftsmanship.

Prog Noir I’ll
admit, it’s not an easy album to listen to from start to finish. It took me
about four listens to dig into. Sinister, Out-of-the-blue time changes, and peculiar
rhythms that will keep you guessing until the very end, Stick Men’s new album
is like as I’ve mentioned a film score straight out of a Mystery/Horror film
with a strange plot twist. If you love the sounds of King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie,
and Igor Stravinsky, I recommend Prog
Noir.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Cirrus Bay are a band that just took me by surprise this
year. I first heard their music on their bandcamp website. And it didn’t flow
with me at first. But then I listened to it again and I realized that this was
something out of the ordinary. I knew I had to check their music out right
away. The band started out in the late ‘90s with Bill Gillham and Chelsey Mann.
Bill played the instruments and Chelsea sang. They did several shows and
recorded several songs before Chelsea’s departure and Sharra Acle took over.

They have released four albums and through various line-up
changes it wasn’t just the influences, but the spellbinding musical
arrangements that blew me away. When the new arrivals showed up on The Laser’s
Edge website which has been my go-to site since 2008, I went ahead and bought
the album straight away. And from start to finish, I knew something special and
something magical when I put the CD in my CD player with my headphones on.

Their music displays the styles of Symphonic-Canterbury
music through the styles of early Genesis, Renaissance, Caravan, and Landmarq.
Bill Gillham’s wrote all the music and with eight tracks, he is not just an
amazing composer, but he knows where exactly he wants the band to head towards.
He’s very much a conductor and heading in the right direction.

Dimension 7 is
this cross between Gilgamesh, Hatfield and the North, Rick Wakeman, and Egg’s The Civil Surface-era and I could tell
that Cirrus Bay know a bit of their Canterbury techniques into their music as
Mark Blasco channels the virtuosity of Phil Miller’s playing. Now Tai Shan’s
vocals, just sends me into a goose bump mode with her arrangements in her
voice.

There are times where Tai channels the styles of Tracy
Hitchings, Annie Haslam, Sally Oldfield, Anneke Van Giersbergen, and Robert
Wyatt. It’s evidential on the opening title-track where it’s shade of Genesis Wind & Wuthering-era as if the band
were having Earl Grey Tea in the winter of a tiny little cottage with In the Land of Grey and Pink-era of
Caravan with Annie Haslam doing vocals for the sessions.

Song Unheard, I
get this feeling as if it was written for a Disney Animated Movie in the late ‘80s
or a non-Disney film of The Swan Princess
done in a Rock Opera format with the rhythm of a melancholy piano as Horseback to Hanssonland is dedicated to
the late great Bo Hansson. There’s electronic drumbeats, galloping rhythms to
another world, Brendan Buss’ jazz saxophone improvisations, and beautiful
textures of the flute, organ, and bass that rides into this mystical and
mysterious land before the swirling sax fades out.

First Departure is
an acoustic course for lift-off into space with guitars making the course for
light-speed as Tai’s vocalizations brings essence of It’s a Beautiful Day as
the closer of Second Departure begins
with the Northettes vocal arrangements, mourning organ as it head towards the
golden light. And the piano is swirling in the styles of Tony Banks and
Hackett-sque acoustic/electric guitar and ending with a symphonic/orchestral
pastoral end.

Cirrus Bay for me, in my opinion, have succeeded. This is
for me the band I’ve been wanting to check out as their fifth album, Places Unseen is one of the most
emotional and story-telling albums I’ve listened to this year. If you love
Symphonic and Canterbury music, then I recommend Cirrus Bay’s Places Unseen. You won’t be disappointed.

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About Me

I'm a blogger/freelance writer from Houston, TX who writes album reviews because I enjoy it. Even though, I'm not the best writer, there is no stop sign for me. I have a love of Progressive Rock music, Jazz Fusion, and Early Heavy Metal music from the '60s to the early '80s. I went to HCC (Houston Community College) for nine years and have completed my degree in Music in Performance: Jazz Studies. I've been writing Progressive Rock and Symphonic Metal reviews starting back in 2008 on my blogsite and it never gets old.